Bureaucrats Against Bambi, Part VI

By Dan Mitchell August 18, 2025 @ International Liberty

"Public choice" usually is a good way of explaining short-sighted behavior by politicians and bureaucrats.

But it doesn't explain everything.

For instance, I have a five-part series (see here, here, here, here, and here) about the inexplicable anti-deer mentality of government officials.

Let's add a sixth edition to the series.

Here are some excerpts from a story in Reason by Sophia Mandt.

In 2018, a woman in Baton Rouge found a blind fawn that had been abandoned by its mother. The woman contacted Jen Sibley, who agreed to take care of the deer at her expansive property in Livingston Parish... The deer, which the family affectionately named "Little Buck," eventually regained its health and lived with the Sibleys... On December 22, 2024, officials from the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries showed up at the Sibleys' door after receiving an anonymous tip that Little Buck was living on the property. Louisiana law only allows individuals to possess in captivity "certain sick, injured, or orphaned wildlife"—which does not include deer—for up to 90 days. ...agents "seized the animal and euthanized it"... The family was then fined over $1,600. Trevor, Jaci's husband, was criminally charged with possessing the deer.

Fortunately, prosecutors dropped the penalties.

But the mere fact that this happened is outrageous.

Prosecutors ultimately declined to move the case forward and dropped the fine and criminal charge. The incident has outraged many, including Louisiana state Rep. Lauren Ventrella (R–Greenwell Spring). ..."I think we can find a better use of government resources than kicking down someone's door for raising a deer," she says. ...Ventrella says she believes the incident is about more than just a deer; it represents freedom from an overreaching government. ...The Sibleys' experience with government overreach is unfortunately not uncommon. Peanut the squirrel was captured and murdered by New York wildlife officials last year, sparking a wave of backlash online. ...Earlier this summer, New York City officials tried to separate Lucy, an aging pygmy pig with numerous health issues, from her Staten Island family... Mass public outcry caused Democratic Mayor Eric Adams to pardon the pig, allowing Lucy to stay with her family if they left town.

I have three concluding thoughts.

• First, if "Little Buck" had been ruining neighbors gardens or otherwise causing harm, there would be a legitimate issue. But there was no indication in the reports of damages.
• Second, what sort of awful person called the cops?
• Third, Representative Ventrella had the right perspective, which is that government is far too big if it has enough money and bureaucrats to kill a harmless deer.

P.S. My "Victims of Government" page only includes people. Maybe it needs to include animals as well.

P.P.S. On a separate topic, I wrote yesterday about the backlash against socialism in Bolivia. The good news is that none of the left-wing candidates made it to the runoff in yesterday's election. It remains to be seen, however, if either of the two remaining candidates is another Javier Milei.